Icon: A Sculpture By Sebastian Conran

Icon: A sculpture by Sebastian Conran
Sebastian Conran, one of the modern day Industrial designers, has transformed the iconic Concorde prototype’s nose into a fine art and landmark sculpture. He has aptly named it as ‘ICON’. This five tonne sculpture is a tribute to the legendary carrier with a futuristic design. The Concorde had a touch of mystique in it and was known to be the epitome of speed and luxury. ICON is scheduled to be unveiled for public viewing from 18th June to 22nd June 2013. The venue for this amazing sculpture cum industrial design is the Royal Ascot.
The IDEA:
Concorde remains as one of the most impressive part of aviation history. A glorious reminder of the Anglo-European engineering, Concorde has a soft corner for people of a number of b generations.
The initiation of ICON started in Brooklands Museum in Surrey, England. They sold off a Concorde nose to raise funds for some reasons. The nose happened to be a part of the sixth Concorde airframe. Different situations led to some splendid possibilities in the mind of Sebastian Conran. These slowly took shape in the form of the ‘ICON’.
The ‘INSPIRATION’:
Sculptors Constantin Brancusi and his sculpture ‘bird in Space’ had a huge impact on Sebastian’s though process and dreams. Anish Kapoor and his Mirror Sculptures had also huge impact. Other inspiring works and sculptors include ‘Unique Forms of Continuity in Space’ by Umberto Boccioni and Chris Bangle. Sebastian was also inspired by a number of other futuristic designer and sculptors also.
The forklift truck used to lift and present the Concorde nose in different angles, and in different perspective. This possibly placed a seed of an idea for the ICON. The three meter high and seven meter long nose from the Concorde’s sixth airframe was to become one of the most intriguing piece of industrial design or modern sculptor that is all set to take the world by storm.
The DESIGN:
The nose of the Concorde has been one of its signature style or portion that has left its distinct mark in aviation history and design. The nose could be viewed and it was also photographed in variety of vertical, landing, horizontal and dipped positions. All the views have a exclusive appeal of their own. Since, the aircraft Concorde was an epitome of speed especially supersonic travel in commercial airlines, the waves and reflection concept could add a lot more dynamism among other things. The ICON uses a lot of creative idea and imagination to recreate the supersonic sense of speed and a sense of floating as well. ICON creates an atmosphere or power and speed as well as that of mystique.
The TEAM:
The designer Sebastian Conran combined with a team of extremely talented and dedicated specialists and designers to make their dream ICON a reality. The design team consisted of Tom Pearce and Chris Barlow, with David Kendall as the design Engineer. Fabrication was done by Tom Elliot and Peter Roberts and Components was the responsibility of Dave Bryant. Philip Slater was the stress analyst, while Andy Hedges was in charge of metal finishing. Peter Medley took care of paintwork and Daniel Thomas took care of the woodwork.
Conclusion:
Work began in 2007 and it was late in 2012 that the sculpture was completed. The ICON is a culmination of vision, art and engineering at its best, and paying a fitting tribute to the legendary Concorde. Enjoy the Five-tonne sculpture being unveiled at the Royal Ascot Races in the middle of June 2013.